So it was the Mongolians who invented the drive-by shooting? I always thought it originated from Compton.

Wasn't even them. Plenty of steppe tribes lived on horseback and practiced wicked archery, you kind of had to if you wanted to eat. Heck, the non-steppe Parthians that bounded Rome's eastern expansion made quick work of legions by employing the "Parthian Shot," a feint where they appear to be riding in retreat but then turn in the saddle as they're going and fire backwards towards the pursuers.

I just completed a two-day introductory blacksmithing course. It has given me new appreciation for hand-made metalwork. Those stirrups are pretty amazing. They look factory made. The loops are really precisely formed. The flats for the feet are nicely contoured and really thin. Also, they had to do forge-welding to close the circle, can't tell where the join was made. In addition to the skill in making the stirrups, they also had access to the iron needed. There is a lot of implied knowledge there that we take for granted now.

That fighter pilot comparison is pretty apt. Sounds like the classic energy fighter versus angles fighter. Maneuver into position, attack, break off, observe the target, get into attack position rinse/repeat without getting bogged down in a dogfight (or in this case, melee!).

The headline is disappointingly deterministic, IMO. The stirrup was a key innovation for the Mongols, but it was by no means the single key to unlocking the greatest land empire in human history.

Their ability to incorporate foreign technologies into their culture is often cited. Their warrior training systems and their soldiers' tactical skills with mounted archery and bravery were also significant. They also had a federated political control system, where they left local leadership in place so long as they remained loyal and sent funds upward reliably, which allowed them to grow their empire incredibly rapidly (similar to the US's strategy for Westward Expansion under Jefferson and later).

Their ruthlessness and political cunning were also notable, even in an era where ruthlessness and cunning were not in short supply.

They actually sucked at this, at first. City walls kept hundreds of similar steppe tribes from overrunning the world. It wasn't until the Mongols captured siege engineers from Chinese kingdoms that they started to get really good at taking walled cities. Their first targets were other Chinese cities. Then they turned their eye on the Islamic world. After that, well, there's not much of a buffer between them and Christendom in Europe...

"Standing in his stirrups, a Mongolian soldier could shoot even while retreating. This was a revolutionary battle tactic at the time."

Umm the Parthians predate the Mongols by a fair amount of time, and perfected that technique. As the ealier posted noted, it was not technology that made the Mongols so successful, it was their willingness to adapt and adopt foreign practices that made them what they were.

So it was the Mongolians who invented the drive-by shooting? I always thought it originated from Compton.

Wasn't even them. Plenty of steppe tribes lived on horseback and practiced wicked archery, you kind of had to if you wanted to eat. Heck, the non-steppe Parthians that bounded Rome's eastern expansion made quick work of legions by employing the "Parthian Shot," a feint where they appear to be riding in retreat but then turn in the saddle as they're going and fire backwards towards the pursuers.

I came here to say the same thing. But what's a thousand years, give or take?

"Parthian shot" also refers to throwing out a witty comment just as you're leaving a room.

So it was the Mongolians who invented the drive-by shooting? I always thought it originated from Compton.

Wasn't even them. Plenty of steppe tribes lived on horseback and practiced wicked archery, you kind of had to if you wanted to eat. Heck, the non-steppe Parthians that bounded Rome's eastern expansion made quick work of legions by employing the "Parthian Shot," a feint where they appear to be riding in retreat but then turn in the saddle as they're going and fire backwards towards the pursuers.

Most of Asia and Europe armies depended on weaponary, armor, and no mobility. Mongolians brought speed into the battle with their flanking and archery skills. They were basically human turrets on horses.

Some historians also think the Mongol sack of Baghdad contributed to the world order we have even today. At that time, Baghdad was very advanced. Way more so than any European civilization. Its burning set their culture back centuries, allowing European civilization to thrive when it otherwise would have had a hard time competing.

Some historians also think the Mongol sack of Baghdad contributed to the world order we have even today. At that time, Baghdad was very advanced. Way more so than any European civilization. Its burning set their culture back centuries, allowing European civilization to thrive when it otherwise would have had a hard time competing.

It doesn't work that way. If anything europe would have advanced faster being able to trade with more advanced nations.

And the one specific key strategy no one has mentioned that might be most important of all. If you surrendered to the Mongols they were relatively merciful. If you fought them they would kill everyone, including pets. After the capture of Bejing every mongol soldier was tasked with decapitating 30 citizens to ensure none survived.

It is also worth noting that many Mongol riders had more than one horse. (To this day there are more horses in Mongolia than people.) This, coupled with their ability to operate with out supply lines, allowed them to become the fasting moving army until mechanization.